Russian Scientists Name Fossil Reptile After Lenin

Russian
paleontologists have named a recently discovered fossil ichthyosaur
after Lenin, the head of the Natural History Museum at Ulyanovsk State
University told RIA Novosti.

The
ichthyosaurs were large marine reptiles that are thought to have
inhabited the Earth’s oceans in the Mesozoic era, a geological
definition of a period of time stretching from about 251 million years
ago to about 65 million years ago.

Predecessors of today’s lizards and snakes, ichthyosaurs are not considered dinosaurs.

“The
name Leninia stellans was agreed collegially. There is nothing strange
about the name, many new discoveries are named after famous people,”
Gleb Uspensky, who heads the Natural History Museum at Ulyanovsk State
University said.

In
2012, a team of researchers from US universities Yale and Harvard named
a prehistoric lizard Obamadon gracilis, after Barack Obama, reportedly
inspired by the US President’s “toothy grin.”

The
same year, a new species of parasite discovered in Kenya was named
Paragordius obamai – also in honor of President Obama. According to
research published in the online, peer-reviewed journal Plos One, the
parasite is chiefly notable for “eliminating the need for males” and
quickly earned the moniker “lesbian parasite.”

Uspensky
explained how the naming system works: “the ‘Lenin’ part indicates the
genus, and the ‘stellans’ (meaning starry or brilliant) indicates the
type species. If we find another ichthyosaur from this genus, then it
will be given a different name. ‘Lenin Smiling,’ for example.”

The fossil dates from around 125 or 122 million years ago, according to the Paleobiology Database.

Paleontologists found the incomplete skull several years ago near the village of Kriushi in the Sengileevsk region of Ulyanovsk.

“The
skull was over a meter long. Externally the ichthyosaur resembled a
modern-day dolphin, and fed on fish and mollusks,” Uspensky said.